Season 15 Episode 2 – Slow Rolling Rapala BX Swimmers on the Fox River

Season 15 Episode 2 is Live! James Holst and Pj Vick cast Rapala BX Swimmers on the Fox River for night time walleyes.

I really liked this show a lot !!! Something about night fishing….I don’t exactly know what it is…The other night I went out…watched the sun go down…watched the moon come up !!! Caught some nice fish

Great Job James/PJ and Crew !!!

Looks like fun.

“It hurts my brain”

That’s the best line of the season.

Something I’ve always struggled with. You fish slower and slower and slower, and then finally get bit. Yea !! Now you’re full of adrenaline and start cranking like a mad man again.

SR

Im my boat we call it “the due nothing bite”. Sometimes you could just about set the rods in the holders and let the current work the lures.

We used to keep a good supply of countdown lures when we fished lakes standing on shore. Think I might have one left. Looks like I need to check out a few of the BX minnows.

Just what I need – more crankbaits!!

-J.

Dave Koonce wrote:

I really liked this show a lot !!! Something about night fishing….I don’t exactly know what it is…The other night I went out…watched the sun go down…watched the moon come up !!! Caught some nice fish

Great Job James/PJ and Crew !!!

Thank you Mr Dave! . I agree their is something special about night fishing. Love the thump in the dark and all the challenges that go with the adventure. Glad you made it out and had a good night.

Mike W wrote:

Looks like fun.

Definitely a fun bite Mike. Very similar to the “do nothing ” river bite you’re talking about. Once you wrap your mind around the slow crawling speed it is game on!

Steve Root wrote:

“It hurts my brain”

That’s the best line of the season.

Something I’ve always struggled with. You fish slower and slower and slower, and then finally get bit. Yea !! Now you’re full of adrenaline and start cranking like a mad man again.

Very funny you mention the adrenaline rush that makes you speed up lol.We were both guilty of that exact move after catching a fish .Once we calmed back down we’d be back in the zone

Jon Jordan wrote:

We used to keep a good supply of countdown lures when we fished lakes standing on shore. Think I might have one left. Looks like I need to check out a few of the BX minnows.

Just what I need – more crankbaits!! <img src=”//www.in-depthoutdoors.com/wp-content/smilies/icon_tongue.gif” alt=”tongue”

You can never have to many crank baits Jon lol

Call it strange but I like to bank these type episodes that are of particular interest of me until deep winter and gives me a slight break from the ice.

With that said if this is covered in the vid my bad. But with the many dynamics of night fishing, which I love to do, figuring out where those current breaks are, and the changing currents gets to be real tough when ambient light isn’t that abundant. Often times I’m relying on the feel of my bait in the water instead of visual cues.

How do you feel that BX pulls at slow speeds compared to other stick style baits? Looks quite appealing.

Deuces wrote:

Call it strange but I like to bank these type episodes that are of particular interest of me until deep winter and gives me a slight break from the ice.

With that said if this is covered in the vid my bad. But with the many dynamics of night fishing, which I love to do, figuring out where those current breaks are, and the changing currents gets to be real tough when ambient light isn’t that abundant. Often times I’m relying on the feel of my bait in the water instead of visual cues.

How do you feel that BX pulls at slow speeds compared to other stick style baits? Looks quite appealing.

I don’t find that strange,we all have the winter blues at some point. A couple weeks back I ran the BX on the Mississippi where heavy current and different seams are more prevalent than the fox. My findings were a noticeable difference when I was pulling over the top of a wing dam versus the face,or on the heavy flow side of a current seam. The bait pulls a bit harder in the heavy flow but still not as hard as some larger billed stick baits. When I was slowly reeling and felt little to no resistance I knew I was in the zone. Fyi the BX works very well on the Mississippi also!

Is there a daytime bite also just deeper or not at all this time of year where ur at? By the way great show

grizzly wrote:

Is there a daytime bite also just deeper or not at all this time of year where ur at? By the way great show

Thank you Grizzly,we appreciate it! Their is a daytime bite this time of year. Blade baits,hair jigs,jig plastic combos fished in deeper water on the channel edges within the first few miles below the dam,also up by the dam.The fish during the day tend to run a bit smaller with the occasional larger fish.

Pj are you a guide up there

grizzly wrote:

Pj are you a guide up there

I do not guide at all but I have friends that guide the area. If you’re interested I can message you some information.

Great show and fun to watch your Episodes PJ!

I have spent several (30) years traveling from Iron Mountain to DePere in the early spring and late fall and its always very productive. In my older years now I tend to avoid night fishing, especially by myself (during Covid). No doubt the bigger fish move up to their preferred thermal spots then…as do the Shad
Lately I’m trying tying more bouyant hair jigs to mimic those Shad with some success…Looking for forage on the Sonar, not walleyes, and avoiding the crush of boats below the Dam.

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tom_gursky wrote:

Great show and fun to watch your Episodes PJ!

I have spent several (30) years traveling from Iron Mountain to DePere in the early spring and late fall and its always very productive. In my older years now I tend to avoid night fishing, especially by myself (during Covid). No doubt the bigger fish move up to their preferred thermal spots then…as do the Shad
Lately I’m trying tying more bouyant hair jigs to mimic those Shad with some success…Looking for forage on the Sonar, not walleyes, and avoiding the crush of boats below the Dam.

Thank you Tom,we really appreciate the kind words! The Bay of Green bay and all its tributaries are a special place and well worth the drive.I definitely understand where you’re coming from fishing day over night. It’s a shock to the system staying up all night, still trying to get back to normal lol. I like your approach with the larger hair jigs,sounds like a perfect match the hatch scenario! Good luck out on the water and keep them walleyes coming topside

Great show guys. I liked the explanation of the technique. One question I have for you is what action and power of rod do you like for throwing these type of baits? I do most of my walleye fishing with jigs and plastics so I’m using a lot of medium light and medium power with fast or extra fast action rods. Would a medium power fast action rod work well or would a moderate action be better for this kind of fishing? Thanks for any advise

We used medium and medium light action Okuma Helios SX spinning rods. I prefered the ML for the extra forgiveness it offered once the fish was hooked up. A slower action blank certainly makes sense for this application.

I found it extremely interesting about you guys tying to the split ring vs using a snap. Is there any other situations you see that in?
Where I’m at, we slow troll Rapala f13s & 18s at speeds of 0.7-1.2mph and have noticed tying direct with the knot lower helps to make the bait wobble slightly better.